Are food grade parabens acceptable for skincare?
Insight by Andrea
I was extremely surprised to find food grade parabens in several California Baby products (complete ingredients lists are available at Drugstore.com but not fully disclosed on their website). Click on the image below to find out the information. Once on the site, click on the ingredient’s tab. Always beware of preservative systems that won’t disclose all ingredients.
Following is the current info on the California Baby’s website regarding preservatives and the use of parabens.
Why does California Baby use preservatives?
Cosmetics are subject to contamination and growth of bacteria, mold and other microorganisms and children regularly have cuts, scrapes and put all sorts of things in their mouths. So we created a broad-spectrum preservative system to help ensure the integrity of California Baby® products with formulas tailored to the needs of each product. We use higher than average concentrations of antioxidants & essential oils, which help to preserve our products. California Baby feels that preservatives are a very necessary part of a personal care product since they are expected to have a long shelf life—unlike bread or muffins. Our motto is ‘skin care should be preserved, but not food.’ Skin care is not food (although ours smell yummy!).
We utilize a preservative called polyaminopropyl biguanide (by-GWAN-ide)—an extremely gentle, NON-INVASIVE, non-formaldehyde, non-paraben preservative. The molecular size is too large to migrate into the skin, penetrate to the dermis or reach the blood stream. The ingredients that comprise our preservative system are gentle, yet effective. So gentle, that they can be found in ocular (contact lens) solutions that are put directly into the eye!
Note: In March 2009, we began using capryloyl glycine and undecylenoyl glycine, which is an amino acid and not strictly classified as a preservative but as an antioxidant. Many companies that claim to be preservative free utilize this type of system. We feel one should be very careful of companies that claim to be preservative free as it is either stretching the truth or, we feel, undesirable to use an unpreserved product.
Thoughts? Comments? Let us know!
This entry was posted in Brands and tagged California Baby, ingredients, Natural. Bookmark the
permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can .
Are food grade parabens acceptable for skincare?
Are food grade parabens acceptable for skincare?
Following is the current info on the California Baby’s website regarding preservatives and the use of parabens.
Why does California Baby use preservatives?
Cosmetics are subject to contamination and growth of bacteria, mold and other microorganisms and children regularly have cuts, scrapes and put all sorts of things in their mouths. So we created a broad-spectrum preservative system to help ensure the integrity of California Baby® products with formulas tailored to the needs of each product. We use higher than average concentrations of antioxidants & essential oils, which help to preserve our products. California Baby feels that preservatives are a very necessary part of a personal care product since they are expected to have a long shelf life—unlike bread or muffins. Our motto is ‘skin care should be preserved, but not food.’ Skin care is not food (although ours smell yummy!).
We utilize a preservative called polyaminopropyl biguanide (by-GWAN-ide)—an extremely gentle, NON-INVASIVE, non-formaldehyde, non-paraben preservative. The molecular size is too large to migrate into the skin, penetrate to the dermis or reach the blood stream. The ingredients that comprise our preservative system are gentle, yet effective. So gentle, that they can be found in ocular (contact lens) solutions that are put directly into the eye!
Note: In March 2009, we began using capryloyl glycine and undecylenoyl glycine, which is an amino acid and not strictly classified as a preservative but as an antioxidant. Many companies that claim to be preservative free utilize this type of system. We feel one should be very careful of companies that claim to be preservative free as it is either stretching the truth or, we feel, undesirable to use an unpreserved product.
Thoughts? Comments? Let us know!